“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see
the day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:25
How do we assemble ourselves
together? Is it simply by “showing up”
at the appointed time? Filling the pew
on Sunday morning? We are conditioned to
think that if we are present than we are accounted for, and therefore not
forsaking the assembly. However, nothing
could be further from the truth, we can be complete present and totally
unaccounted for.
Consider this, the church is like
an orchestra. A great assembly of
people, of which no two people in the orchestra are the same. They assemble together for the purpose of
playing a beautiful musical piece that inspires, captivates, and motivates the
congregation. They want the music to
influence the audience. However, if each
musician was left to his own motivation, the symphony would not sound as it
should. If they were too come together
and play whatever they had in mind it would not sound like music so much as
noise. The people are present but the
music, and purpose of the musician, totally unaccounted for. They need a conductor, someone to: lead,
guide, and instruct the musicians; to lead them through the complicated musical
piece. Each musician must play his part
the best he/she can, all the while looking towards the guiding hand of the
conductor. When this happens the
orchestra is finally assembled, and the result is beautiful and inspiring
music. So it is with the church of
God. We each have our own instrument and
part to play; but we do not play our own notes, we play at the command of the
conductor. This is how we assemble
ourselves together. By assembling ourselves
to him, to Jesus Christ. You could have
an orchestra of a thousand stringed instruments and two thousand wind
instruments but if they are not following the conductor no music will be
played. Likewise, no matter how many
"Christians" you gather together and how many times you gather them;
without “true fellowship with the Father”
there will be no assembling of ourselves.
We will be together, but ultimately there is still disconnect because we
are operating on our own terms and for our own means. Many may gather into a service, but the
question is not “are you there”, but “why are you there?” You can have gathering after gathering,
meeting after meeting, but unless you have a group of people willing to follow
the Spirit it will not profit. It will
not be music. It will not captivate the
congregation and cause them to want to turn over their life over to God. This willingness cannot come when you walk in
the doors. It must be present when you
walk in the doors.
The exhortation of the Bible is
salvation must come with sacrifice, by faith, through Jesus. Jesus said “the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life”. We must read the Word and follow our great
conductor. Then and only then, will we
truly be able to play music that will inspire the congregation out of sin and
into a life of holiness and godliness.
Is that not the true motive? Is
that not the main thing? To live holy
and lead others to holiness? If so, then
let the church play that symphony, at the will of the conductor. May we all endeavor to play our part, and
assemble in body and Spirit; present and accounted for.
